Sisowath Sirik Matak

Sisowath Sirik Matak (22 January 1914-21 April 1975) was Prime Minister of the Khmer Republic from 11 March 1971 to 18 March 1972, succeeding Lon Nol and preceding Son Ngoc Thanh.

Biography
Sisowath Sirik Matak was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1914, the cousin of Norodom Sihanouk. He resented his cousin due to his jealousy over his selection as king instead of his uncle or even himself, and he became a member of the conservative Khmer Renovation party after the end of World War II. He became an opponent of his cousin's close relations with North Vietnam, and Sihanouk sent Matak to serve as ambassador to China from 1962 to 1964 to prevent him from stirring up trouble at home. He later served as ambassador to the Philippines and Japan, but, after his old friend Lon Nol became Prime Minister in August 1969, Matak became his deputy. In 1970, they deposed Sihanouk in a military coup, and Matak served as Prime Minister of the new Khmer Republic from 1971 to 1972. In 1975, he was offered asylum in the United States after Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, but he politely refused, saying that he did not want to flee like a coward, and that his only error was trusting the USA, which had abandoned Cambodia. On 21 April 1975, Matak was handed over to the Khmer Rouge by the French embassy and executed by firing squad.